Parassala: A CPM woman activist has been found hanging in a building owned by the party. Her suicide note, which said she was taking the extreme step due to the mental harassment of local party leaders and in which she has named two people, has caused a political stir.

Asha (41), wife of Sreekumar, was found dead around 9 pm on Thursday in the building owned by the CPM's Udiyankulangara local committee in Azhakikonam .

Congress workers blocked the National Highway at the Udiyankulangara junction to protest against the police allegedly hiding the suicide note that was found on the body.

The protest ended after the police agreed to prepare and release the inquest report in the presence of the tehsildar.

The two-page suicide note said that she was committing suicide due to the party's failure to take action against CPM local committee leaders Kottamam Rajan and Alatharavilakam Joy despite she complaining about their mental harassment.

Asha had left her home on Thursday afternoon saying she was going to the party office. When she did not return till late at night, relatives went out in search of her and found her dead in the building just 100 metres from her home.

The police tried to remove the body at night itself but they were not allowed by the locals and relatives. The body was later shifted to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital for postmortem at 12 pm on Friday.

Special team should prove suicide: Chennithala

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has demanded the appointment of a special team led by an honest inspector general to probe the alleged suicide of the CPM activist.

The true facts may not come out if the local police investigate the case in which CPM leaders are the accused, he said, adding the accused leaders should be arrested immediately.

The suicide note said that she was committing suicide because of the constant mental torture of the local CPM leaders. The allegation that she did not get any help despite complaining to the party makes the case more serious, he said.

The situation now is that even women within the ruling party are not safe and this is not the first time that women have been harmed within the CPM, Chennithala said.

(Note: Suicide is not the answer to anything. Seek the help of a mental health professional. Helpline number - 1056, 0471- 2552056)